The handkerchief
by 2Due
Summary: Second part from my main fanfic "The truth in your eyes" A little thing caused a big chaos between them, will they face each other just like good old friends again? But first, their secrets, will they be able to tell one another about theirs before moving on? Contains werewolf!sniper and vampire!spy Red Sniper x Blu Spy :3 Enjoy!
1. 1-The handkerchief

_**Oneshot 2**_

_**The handkerchief **_

"Hands off, spook! I won those regularly!" Sniper snapped forward clawing at the bills on the table, his grin shining at the Blu Spy's frown.

"You cheated, bushman!" He angrily stood up and quickly snatched the Aussie's hat from the corner of the table revealing extra cards underneath. He proudly wore it and sat back down. "Immediately wondered where that sneaky hand of yours aimed earlier."

It was L.J.'s turn to stand up and he grabbed the Spy's wrist, fiercely pulling it closer without much effort, he twisted it, grinned more and with a hand he raised the brim of the glove. "Having your sleeves rolled up doesn't make you less suspicious." He let him go, crossed his arms and heavily sat back with quite an amused smug, while Spy withdrew his arm, propped his other one on the backrest, crossed his legs and made an amused face as well, which said _Touchè_.

The two remained few long seconds in silence, just staring at each other under the soft light of the lamp over their heads, before bursting in a loud laughter together. Still taken by the giggles, one pushed his bills to the other, eliminating their winnings, settling their debts like good old friends.

"It's no fun playing with you, no one ever win." Sniper teased packing the cards away.

"And yet I lost the count of our games."

Sniper couldn't hide a smile at that. He stood up and placed the deck on the shelf next to his bed. His eyes ran automatically at the clock on the wall. Almost 1am. "You want a last drink? Coffee? Beer? Gin?"

The Spy was already putting his coat on. "No_, merci, mon ami_."

Sniper nodded and slightly struggled to get near the door, he strangely felt like something was telling him to not open it, but he did at the end as he watched Spy heading to the exit.

"Same time tomorrow?" He asked stopping right before the door.

"Whenever you want, spook, you know where to find me."

Spy snorted and nodded. "Oui, I know." And he offered his slyest smile.

That froze L.J. on the spot. Something was…_bothering_ him inside, but not in a bad way… His eyes locked with the other man's and kept the contact which seemed a fraction of second too much before Spy snapped out of it himself and hurried out. Sniper could swear he saw that sly smile becoming… tender.

"_Bonne nuit, _bushman_."_

"_Bonne nuit, espion_." Sniper answered proudly showing his French accent, learnt from a past mission of his life. He leaned on the frame and snorted. "Don't get caught!"

And with that, the Blu Spy vanished in the dark.

Few more things before going to bed, the cups and the glasses needed to be washed and the bottles needed to be put into place, fridge or trash that it was. Doing chores relaxed him, but he often ended up overthinking about little things. In that moment he couldn't stop thinking about how _weird_ he felt around Jean-Claude. In the last days he felt that feeling growing more and more, like something gnawing him and demanding attention. He didn't know what it was and he wasn't even sure if he wanted to. The more he got close to Jean, the more he felt comfortable, but even uncomfortable at the same time. Surely they had become good friends despite they had to be arch enemies, but they weren't even the first ones to share a friendship between the teams and surely won't be the last. They just needed to be safe from their administrators, they didn't have to know.

_What was that, earlier?_ He thought, wondering about his heart suddenly sped up when the Spy said he knew where to find him. Of course he knew, there weren't many places in the dusty canyon where the Red Sniper could go if not in his beloved van or in his room at the Red base or in one of his favourite nests… Then why did he react like that? Did Jean notice? And was he really sure he saw his smile change?

He was starting to have a headache…

Yet, he had to admit his life finally played a happy note since he befriended the Blu Spy, having around someone who even just listen to him, even to those rare words he spoke, made him feel...relieved, carefree, revived… At first he actually was pretty sure the Spy was making the whole thing up, just another way to kill the enemy earing their trust or something, but, no, he soon realized the spook was sincere, was genuinely interested, searching for a contact, almost craving it. It's been enough looking in his eyes to see it. L.J. had been taught that eyes never lie, he learnt to read them, to look through them and not even those ice-blue eyes of the spook could hide a secret to him.

Surely Antoine and Eugene were the best buddies he could ever have, both the Red Spy and Engineer were truthful and honest to him, always there to help him if in need, just as much as he was for them, and yet… Jean was different, he was his age at least, Antoine and Eugene were about good 12-13 years older. Jean made him feel at home.

Once all done, Lawrence James went to move the chairs under the table, but a little white square on his friend's caught his attention. He picked it up and realized it was a handkerchief. Clean and well folded with two white initials elegantly stitched in one corner, "J.C.". Jean-Claude's, no doubt, he must have lost it while putting the coat on. It was incredibly morbid, silky at touch, but it somehow reminded him of the past. Once it had to have been black or a very dark tone of grey, now the colour had faded into a light, dull grey, and the leaf decorations following the brim had to have been a bit fuller, less flat, and bright white. He guessed it had to be as old as Jean, maybe.

While his thumb brushed over the silky surface, analysing it, tasting it, Lawrence realized his heart had started running slightly faster once again. He puffed frustrated and almost slammed the poor handkerchief on the table, but something stopped him and he was glad of it. It was Jean's, he couldn't treat it badly. He sighed and folded it back up, he had the idea to put it on the shelf next to the deck when a thought flashed in his mind: _Sniff it._

_What?! And where that comes from?!_ He quickly put the little thing down and went to search for his pyjamas.

When he got back few minutes later, the handkerchief was still there on the table. He stared at it, his arms tightly crossed, nervously leaning on one leg then the other, his nostrils opening wider at each puff. How could a thing like that upsetting him that much? Just because it was Jean's?! He gulped already knowing the answer… He felt his mouth dry and his heart ramming against his sternum, making him more frustrated each second. Though, the more he thought about not to sniff it, the more he wanted to… He started sweating. _Why?! Why should I even want to do that?!_ But before he could find an answer, his hand was carefully grabbing the handkerchief. Just holding it had an incredible effect on him, he relaxed, his breathing calmed down, his heart slowed down a bit, but still running fast, and he felt he was doing something he actually wanted to, or actually, doing something _similar_ he wanted to.

Maybe for once he had found the right way and slowly he brought the square delicate cloth to his nose, closing his eyes.

He had to hold on the chair to not fall. He tried to stand up straight, but his legs became suddenly jelly and he was forced to sit down. He was panting, feeling lightheaded and very, very confused. How could that smell affect him like that? One hand's fingers nervously drummed on the table, he started gritting and unconsciously his leg started jumping up and down. _That_ wasn't Spy's perfume nor aftershave nor any other product the man used, Sniper was absolutely sure of that, it didn't even seem to be the smell of his clothes, the smell of the fabric…no, that was _his_ natural smell, the smell of his skin. And it was incredibly intoxicating.

He leaned on the table glaring at the object in his hand. He took some time, in complete silence, before taking a very deep breath, releasing all the tension he had so suddenly accumulated. He nodded to himself as if accepting something within, something hidden in his deepest part of being, bit his lip and gently brought the handkerchief to his nostrils again.

He couldn't stop anymore, it was too inebriating, too strong, too powerful to oppose resistance, that smell literally drove him mad, making his body tremble excited as he never felt before, making him forget about the world around him, making him feel the need to hold on something solid to not fall off the chair.

Spy opened the door of his room after wishing goodnight to the Soldier, his brother, who was waiting for him in the main hall, drinking the last beer of the night, and simply let himself fall on the bed, tired, but wearing a satisfied smile. He couldn't quite guess why he felt that way, but he didn't want to stop feeling it. He sat up wanting to get free from those boring clothes, they were starting to be heavy and he couldn't wait to wear something more comfortable. With the coat in his hand, he headed to the wardrobe and put it away. Oh, silly him, he didn't unroll down his sleeves before leave Sniper's van, he guessed he had to iron his shirt in the morning. He unrolled the right one first and immediately noticed something was wrong. Where was the handkerchief he usually kept in his sleeve? His _precious_ handkerchief. He slightly jolted when he did not find it in his other sleeve not in his chest pocket. He started to panic when, checking all his pockets, he found nothing of it. He was 100% sure he had seen it before going out that evening, he had it in its usual place, he could feel it softly brushing against his arm each time he moved. His eyes dashed to the ground, to the bed, to the coat he just put away. Nothing. Maybe it was in the corridor outside the door? He ran out and repassed his steps, checking all the corners and holes on the ground. Nothing. Maybe he lost it outside in his way home? He groaned annoyed and rushed to get his kit. There was a lot of dirty canyon ground to check, maybe starting from the Sniper's van was the best. He didn't care for his coat and immediately walked outside.

He frowned seeing the light still on in the van, he thought L.J. had gone to sleep as soon as he left. Apparently not. There was no evidence of his precious cloth on the ground he had left at his back, but there were still about 200 meters before the camper, if it was somewhere there, there was no need to bother the Red Sniper further. He didn't want to in the first place, but the more he got closer to his van, the more he guessed he actually had to knock at his door. In fact, he soon ended on the first step before the entrance. Jean heavily sighed and raised one hand to rub the angles of his eyes with his fingertips, regretting the loss of heat he had kept around his chest while crossing his arms, and took one step further.

The door had a window and the blinder was all down, partially covering the view inside. Jean-Claude wasn't the kind of guy who likes to spy the private life of a friend (ironic, isn't it?), but the scene he spotted through the slats froze him on the spot, his hand almost there to knock on the wooden surface. He immediately recognised his handkerchief and at the same time the Sniper clinging at it as if his life depended on it, his eyes closed, his face of a colour he never seen on his person and his ears of the same tone of red, digging his nose deeply in it, taking deep breaths like a wild animal in heat following a track.

Without even realizing it, the Spy was squishing himself against the door for a better view, his fingers silently clawing at the wood through the thin cloth of his gloves, risking to make his invisible disguise tilt. He could feel face burning, his hair getting up fighting against the pressure of the mask, his heart suddenly pounding within him as ready to explode and a chill running down from the back of his neck to the low of his back. He had become so warm inside he had totally forgotten the chillness of the night. If it wasn't for the soft cracking of the wood under his rediscovered claws, he would have never snapped out of it. He quickly jumped down from the steps glaring at the now-ruined gloves, he focused to regain control of himself, letting the claws withdraw and his temperature drop. He found himself shocked, disbelieving what he had just witnessed, but couldn't deny that actually pleased him, and quite a lot, too. He waited a full minute to let his heart slow down, recomposed himself and, without looking through the slats again, quickly knocked at the door, his disguised falling.

At the first knock, Lawrence James was on the ground, startled and disoriented, at the third he was messily trying to stand up begging to win against the shacking of his knees and clumsily heading to the door. He was so out of himself he didn't even check who was waiting outside before opening the door wide, and for a moment he forgot to breath seeing Jean-Claude (almost) composedly standing in front of him, his hands behind his back.

Even the Spy forgot to breath for a second, but tried with all his might to stay composed, no gulping, no lip biting, just a little cough to clear his throat before calmly talking. "I happen to have lost a dark colored handkerchief. Have you seen it, _mon ami_? It's… quite precious to me." He himself could not say if it was more precious after have witnessed the Sniper's behavior.

The shooter said nothing, just quickly nodded and turned, went to the table where the item had landed, folded it in a blink of an eye, stirring it as much as he could with delicate hands, and turned back to return it to its rightful owner.

Before stretching out his arm, Spy remembered about the claws incident, he quickly removed his gloves and held them in one hand behind his back while the other went to grab the handkerchief. "Ah," he smiled relieved, "_merci beaucoup_, L.J., I was afraid to have lost it." He carefully pocketed it being sure to not lose it again and looked up at his friend. He held himself to chuckle seeing how dreamy his friend's eyes looked, how distracted he looked… He bet he had to have quite a glow on his own face as well… He offered a sincere smile and nodded. "_Bonne nuit à nouveau, mon ami._"

"G'night, spook." At least he managed to whisper the words out instead of mumble them.

And with that the Spy disappeared in the night. Again.

Sniper gulped few times feeling his throat completely dry while moving his arm to close the door, but almost chocked seeing five and five deep marks in the wood. _What the hell..?!_

Spy groaned for the nth time while stitching up the holes in the gloves and for the nth time he yelped as the needle hit his finger. _That's it! Next time I'm buying a new pair!_

They both may have found something new they had in common, but surely none of them found sleep that night despite being both exhausted, too many thoughts, too many things rushing in their minds, too much struggling under their blankets as they both fought to find better positions, their dreams torturing them with secret pleasures, leaving them panting against their sweat-soaked pillows.

They both had a lot to talk about in the future days. Or maybe just naturally act.


	2. 2-Thoughts

_**Oneshot 3**_

_**Thoughts**_

If he was expecting some reaction, he surely wasn't expecting _that_ one.

Dawn was going to approach soon and there was an incredible, peaceful silence around him but for his troubled breathing, which mockingly echoed in the closed space of his van. There've been numerous nights in his life where he had not slept a wink, yet, although the one he just had had been quite rough -for so frankly saying- he never felt better, his mind was clear, he was lucid and finally accepted his new-found nature he had to face the evening before, right after the handkerchief accident. All the pieces found their right spot and he could at last explain his own behaviour in his past specific moments, all the reactions his body had, all those glimpses, all those sudden fast heartbeats… Since the very first moment he had locked his eyes with him, he had felt something, and that explains why he did not killed him, although it had looked so easy since his adored kukri was already dangerously brushing against his Adam's apple. He remembered, then, how hard it's been after having seen his eyes. Despite having lost, being abruptly pinned against the wall with a huge knife against his throat, after a battle which one could only be proud of, any way it ended, and willingly let go of his butterfly-knife because of the defeat, the Blu Spy's eyes shone of pride, but L.J. could also clearly see panic and fear, fear of death (something the Red Sniper could deeply relate to), but not begging. And he could see also something else, something he couldn't explain, not at the time and still not in that moment.

Lawrence exhaled one last long moan bending his head backward, pushing against his pillow as his back arched up, swimming in the last afterglow of the night. It took him few minutes to relax from the ecstatic twitching and the panting, and few more to let the nice breeze coming from the open window cool him down. The reviving feeling of release was still too inviting though, but he rolled over, pulling the blanket promeover his waist, totally forgetting the idea to search for the fourth orgasm. He probably had enough that night. Maybe…

When he opened his eyes again the sky was slowly taking a light tint of pale yellow and the breeze had warmed up slightly. The canyon around him was starting to appear in his visual, as well as the Red base, reminding him of the crushing reality. He closed them again taking a deep breath, trying to forget for few more moments about his contract and focusing on… he bit his lower lip hard as the masked face of his friend appeared in his mind. A lusty tingling started to run through his body once again and he tried to ignore it with all his might, he rolled over facing the low ceiling of his bunk and pressed his hands over his face, slid them down rubbing his eyes with his fingertips to then press them against his temples. He breathed in deeply, trying to calm down.

He was exhausted and slightly terrorized.

_Bloody hell, that damn handkerchief_. He sighed and sat up letting his long legs dangle over the edge of the bed, he looked at himself and grimaced at how much he needed a shower since he was all sweaty and covered in other fluids in the front. His mind started to run again though, remembering that sweet smell he's got so wildly intoxicated with the evening before, and he had to press the sheets over his lap to keep things down. _Didn't you have enough? _He growled as he started to pant, leaning his forehead on one hand. Just remembering the smell drove him crazy and having the curse upon himself didn't help: his sense of smell was unbelievably developed, even when he wasn't in his other state, the state of long fur, deadly claws and terrible fangs; and he had no problems in recognizing Spy's most intimate smell. And he totally lost it since then.

He jumped off the bunk, carefully holding on the edge feeling his legs weak, and headed to his bathroom to have an ice cold shower. As he felt the cold water running on his skin, he relaxed and his mind cleared up, but he was shaking, not for the temperature, but for a realization. How was he going to face his friend from that moment?

…

He felt overwhelmed by his thoughts, his worries, he felt too nervous even to move, anxious, agitated, his chest started aching from his panting and his throat fell dry in seconds. He pressed his hands against his temples and tried to lean against the wall, his elbow touched the valve and the iced water turned in no time into hell-hot, making him yell and jump out of the tiny space of the shower, cursing and damning hydraulics. Yet, that shock helped him quite a lot: he proudly stood up, his hands on his naked hips, his lips pursed and he nodded contently. L.J. took a deep breath, closed the water and grabbed the towel covering himself. _I'm going to ask him out for a … date. _He rushed to get dressed, not caring if it was going to end badly at all, they could always be friends after all, he knew Jean enough to be perfectly sure that the Spy would accept him no matter what. He grabbed his work jeans and started dressing, but closing the zip he found a little hitch in the way despite the underwear. _Are you freaking kidding me?! Again? _He frowned down at his groin.

Puffing and rubbing the palm of his hand over his eye, Spy was glad he had left the window open that night. It was still dark outside, but he heard the familiar rhythmical noise of Thomas' steps down the corridor few minutes earlier, as the good soldier his brother was, he always got up before dawn to go for his personal training in the tiny gym their base had.

Jean-Claude sat up letting the sheets fall over his lap, rubbed his temples and blinked few times. He was still slightly shaken by the last dream he had and couldn't quite snap out of it. He forgot when was the last time he had such dreams… so vivid, so real… so…forbidden… and with a person he really cared for… He puffed annoyed and leaned over to grab a cigarette from his nightstand, but as he brought it to his lips, ready to light it up with his lighter, he stopped as a voice echoed in his head. L.J. disliked cigarettes a lot.

He looked down at his hands, at his lighter, then at the cigarette. His hands dropped on his lap as he spit the little cylinder over the edge of the bed, soon followed by the lighter, both rolling away on the wooden floor. Jean then looked at the little case on the nightstand containing the rest of his cigarettes and couldn't avoid smirking to himself as he flicked it with his finger sending it on the floor too. After all, he had decided to quit smoking weeks ago.

He laid back down with his hands behind his head taking deep breaths of the fresh night air coming in from the window. Much better than smoke indeed. Since the day they started hanging together, he noticed his habit had tailed off and he had bought less and less cigarettes packs. Being around James had simply enhanced his life style. That man was somehow his saviour and he didn't dare to take out a cig in his presence, risking to offend him. That man, the one he was supposed to uselessly kill over and over for a society he was trying to destroy from inside, had offered him something no one, outside his family, had ever even imagined to in several years: his trust, and so his friendship. In few days they had started meeting, in few weeks they started acting like they were on the same side, in no one's team, in few months they seemed so close to look like old childhood friends. Strangely, Jean had been the first to show deep trust in him revealing his face tossing his hateful mask aside, his face, which only his brother had seen after the incident, and the Aussie had not shown any hate for him, just a big understanding smile and careful protecting hand over his ruined cheek. In exchange, James had shown him his eyes, his beautiful heterochromatic eyes, his alert right green one and his left half-blind ice-blue one. His own left eye was ruined as well since the incident, he couldn't see well from it either, but not as badly as L.J.. Despite that, the Red Sniper was a marvellous man… Jean-Claude suddenly looked at his hands feeling his claws getting loose from the imposition he set on himself and seeing that show made him feel unworthy of his friendship. He had revealed his most inner secrets to him but the curse upon himself… L.J. had to know. About the curse and about… something else. But first the curse, and if L.J. still accepted him as friend after it, Jean-Claude would take another step further and seriously talk to him. It was a good thing he never wore a shirt in those periods of the month where he had to let himself be engulfed by the curse to relieve himself from stress and tension, so he let himself go, letting his body change and slowly transform as he felt his little fingers grow in length stretching the wings' membrane from his sides, his other fingers getting webbed by another thin membrane, his ears stretching backward getting pointed and way more sensitive, and his teeth getting slightly sharper. Having a body of a soldier helped, his clothes did not burst each time he transformed, his muscles were enough already and well hidden under his Spy coat.

He covered himself with his wings, his arm tight around his torso, and his mind tried to get back to the dream, where he craved for physical contact and affection, where he could offer protection to the lonely figure roaming in the dreamland and where he could finally see his face as the figure turned toward him.

He needed to talk to Lawrence James as soon as possible, but first, he needed to let his still going, hard erection relax or he wouldn't be able to walk that day.


	3. 3-Curses revealed

_**Oneshot 4**_

_**Curses revealed**_

"Another fucking colossal flop!" Thomas slammed the useless files down on the table and angrily walked away, heading to the sofa where he left his jacket, and dug one cigar out the pocket. "We're running out of time, Jean..." He let himself heavily fall on the sofa and lightened his precious cigar with his old lighter. He took a long drag, too nervous to even care about the ashes, sighed and rubbed his brow with two fingers, smoke puffing out from his nostrils. Hearing no answer, he lifted his eyes to meet Jean's, but the Blu Spy's eyes were focused on the files, shooting disgust and hate in their direction. They had worked hard to retrieve them, two long days of research, just only to trip over unusable codes. The Soldier took another powerful drag before offering the cigar to his younger brother, hoping so to distract him. Jean-Claude moved away from the bookshelf he was leaning on and held his hand out before repacking the files in the case.

Thomas couldn't avoid to raise a brow at him and nonchalantly tapped the ashes off in the tray nearby. Any chance that the man in front of him was an impostor was out of the question, being able to recognise his own brother was the least! The soldier smiled and puffed a ring of smoke toward him, totally wanting to distract himself as well. "Since when you stopped smoking? It's been a while since I saw you with a cigarette."

Spy closed the case with frank move, then set it under the table and looked straight at the brother. "I decided to quit. Life is way easier without it." And with that he took the sofa in front of the brother's, his face unreadable, his eyes icy.

Soldier frowned, slightly pursing his lips. He was taken aback from that tiny note of defence he heard in his voice. He knew his brother too well to think he was upset just for the files. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, never detaching his eyes from his. "Come on, out with it."

Something in Jean-Claude snapped and the man from the emotionless iced-statue state relaxed and started to show sadness and concern. He leaned forward as well, sighing, only his big brother could break into his ice defence in one hit, and Thommy knew it just looking at him, forming a light smirk.

"I bet that your Red friend has something to do with it." He mocked.

The glaring statue got back in a moment, almost snarling. Jean sat up rigidly, crossed his arms and legs. He hated when Thomas did that.

Soldier chuckled and raised his hands. "Ok, ok. I'm listening." He hardly avoided the small cushion flying straight to his face.

Spy snorted and sat more comfortably without the cushion behind him and nodded. He suddenly looked more relaxed, almost dreamy, and he was smiling. "Yes, he is guilty, somehow."

Thomas squeezed his eyes shaking his head, it wasn't the first time he saw him like that, although the last time was years before. He took another drag, smoke coming out from his wide smile. "He's not a smoker, I guess."

"Don't start." Jean cut him sharply, he knew his brother's old game, he knew where he was heading.

He scoffed. "Admit it! You're in love, brother."

Jean blushed. Strike. "You're cruel." He leaned on a propped hand trying to hide at least one red cheek.

The sudden burst of laughter made him sunk more in his sofa, his cheeks burning. It took him a short while to regain himself, Thomas had to set the cigar aside and dry his tears before being able to talk again. He rested his arm on the cushion at his side and calmly said "Does he know it?"

Jean-Claude sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes. "Not yet. I realized it just recently."

"Hm-hm," Thomas nodded "I might know the guy only professionally speaking," his posture more comfortable, "but since short after you met him, you looked quite different, brother. And, frankly," he took his cigar back for a new long drag, "it's a pleasure to see you with a goofy smile on your mug once in a while." He started chuckling, but the freezing glare he was receiving made him stop almost immediately. He shook his head smiling affectionately and pinned what remained of his cigar, extinguishing it, before getting up. "Don't be so grouchy." He went to pick the case up and walked to the door. "Engie is preparing a barbeque tonight. Care for one of his beers?"

The only answer that came was an annoyed puff followed by a "Nah." Spy reluctantly stood up and took out his mask from his inner pocket. "I have other plans." He hid his face and walked up to his brother's side, a sly smirk shining on his face, which made him roll his eyes.

"Taking a little step forward?" He patted his shoulder.

Spy nodded, his eyes full of hope, "Taking a little step forward."

Soldier grabbed the nose of his mask pulling it down as a joke and as he ran down the corridor, he yelled at him a full-lunged "Good luck!" and laughed at his muffled cries and curses.

There he was, in front of the van's door, standing incredibly still, as always impeccable in his elegant blue suit, hands behind his back and his heart going at full speed. He was nervous and slightly afraid of what might be Sniper's reaction, but with a deep breathe, he forced himself to knock once against the glass, as he usually did.

Surprisingly, he didn't get an immediate answer, but he could hear sudden noises from inside, things getting moved and some heavily landing on the floor, followed by curses, growls and a hiss. When finally the door opened, the shooter was in such a state that Jean-Claude had to grit his teeth, restraining himself to not jump on the man in front of him and _technically eat_ him alive. All he could see was bare hairy chest and flushed face.

"O-Oh, 'evening Claude." Sniper moved away from the doorstep and let him in, quickly closing the door behind him.

"Good evening, James." He rigidly sat down at his usual chair, "I apologize I interrupted your doing." He added as he removed his own coat, setting it behind him, his eyes never leaving the other man. Sniper had clearly just come out from the shower, his hair was still heavily wet, drops falling on the red towel around his neck. The white shirt he was wearing was a cosy, yet elegant, blouse, something Jean-Claude wasn't expecting the man to have at all, obviously rushed over his shoulders seen the buttons undone showing bare, hairy, shiny skin underneath, as well as an _interesting_ dark hairy line drawing toward the belt from under the navel, and the collar all wrinkled. He was wearing also long greyish, acid-green trousers, full of pockets and showing bare feet at the bottom.

L.J. waved him off as he returned to dry his hair with the towel, not noticing Spy was practically staring at him. He looked composed enough, but inside he was ready to explode of embarrassment. "I wasn't expecting you at this hour."

If it wasn't for his voice, he would have never snapped out of his trance, and before James could turn to face him, he quickly removed his mask and set it aside. "I happened to have the night free. I hope you don't mind." He smirked.

L.J. couldn't hold a snort as he sat down in front of him, his towel going back around his neck. "You sly weasel, of course I don't. Coffee?"

Jean-Claude politely declined, secretly trying to not let his eyes land on that bare chest in front of him, L.J. shrugged and went to prepare a cup for himself.

It was incredible how actually both of them looked calm and without worries when they both were boiling with anxiety and nervousness, both afraid to say something wrong, something that might even offend or scare the other or, in the worst scene, abruptly end their friendship. L.J. was preparing the percolator when he noticed his undone shirt. He felt his face stiffing and getting ridiculously hot with the realization, his fingers flew to the buttons and fastened them up at the speed of light. How _embarrassing_! He didn't dare to turn around to see if Spy had seen him.

"You want something else? I have tea." He was surprised of himself, he had managed to not make his voice tremble.

"No, thank you."

His voice made him blush even more. He felt so rigid he found hard to breath for a moment and had to lean on the hob to not fall, and the memory of _his_ smell reappeared in his mind, more vivid than ever, filling his nostrils. _Now_ it was hard to look presentable. He needed to talk, to distract himself, he just needed something to start with.

On the other hand, Spy was glad he was giving him the back, the more he waited, the more nervous he was and the more he had difficulties in keeping a neutral expression. He forgot the last time he felt so uneasy in his life, for years he's been the professional every enemy feared, emotionless and cold, quickly adaptable to any situation and with nerves of steel, when in that moment, in that place, he felt like he was a teenager again… inexpert and goofy. He couldn't even think how to start a true conversation with Sniper. When he had left his base, he was absolutely sure he could handle it as well as always, but just seeing the man's face made his brain tilt and he had soon lost his self-confidence. It was unbearable and he needed to say something quickly!

"Do you have any news? Did you find what you and your brother were searching for?"

Spy was taken aback, he truly didn't expect him to start a conversation, but, in deep, he was enormously glad and relaxed a bit. He half turned to see him coming back to the table with the coffee, immediately eyeing his shirt and… was he…_blushing_? He cleared his voice as well as his mind and focused on the question given. "Unfortunately not, not yet at least."

"Sorry to hear that, mate." He said after the first sip, frowning in true concern. Despite not knowing the real nature of what the two brothers were searching among Blu's deepest and best hidden secrets, he knew that if they found it, the _war was over_, and he really hoped for them to find it, whatever it was. Spy had told him it's been a long research, every move undercover, for not to say against their contracts, a long work which lasted for years, and still going on, and involved few dozens of people, among agents, spies and mercenaries. A work of incredible amount, hard to believe even for Sniper's ears, who had just heard like the top of the iceberg from Spy. He and his brother Thomas were the only ones working from the Canyon, but around the world, in the other bases, where more Blus and Reds were fighting, more people were risking their lives to gather more information as they could, but the more they found, the more obstacles, traps and fakes they met.

"That just means there's more work to do, _mon ami_." He slightly sighed and he gave a sincere half smile. "Tonight I had enough of it, though." He raised his hands, wanting to close the topic. "I want to spend the rest of my evening relaxing." _Away from everything, away from the war. With you._

Sniper finished his coffee and nodded, he could understand him very well, he was getting tired of their war-routine himself and the only moments he could truly relax and being himself were when he was in his van in the evening or when Spy came to visit him. The thought that he wanted to come to chill out in his company made him feel butterflies in his stomach. "Cards?" He offered a game.

Spy entwined his fingers and brought them to his mouth as he leaned his elbows on the table, and shook his head. That gest confused Sniper, he frowned raising an eyebrow, he couldn't understand if his friend was smiling or not, but seeing his eyes, he could see his friend was hiding something. A tight knot formed in his throat, he didn't even manage to gulp. Spy's eyes locked with his for a moment, moved quickly down for another before locking again. Sniper felt uneasy and could bet Spy was in the same shape…but for what?

"What is it…?" L.J. shyly asked, his heart speeding up each second.

For the first time in his life, Jean-Claude lost his tongue. He took a deep breath and sat up, trying to calm down. Now or never. "There's...something I need you to be aware about me. You're a dear friend to me, maybe the only true friend I've ever had," Sniper was really touched by his seriousness and didn't dare to interrupt him, he just stood there carefully listening, "and if there's something I want to be is being absolutely honest with you." He was sweating and his hands slightly shaking, but he couldn't avoid being content with the blush growing on the Sniper's face. Maybe it was going to be the last one he would have witnessed, so it let it all out in a fast succession. "I'm not what I seem. There's something hidden in me and I've been hiding it for the last four years. It deeply changed my being, at first it was uncontrollable, I was dangerous, I hurt people close to me because of it!" A river of emotions almost broke from his voice, he kept it in well but for high pitched notes that often escaped at the end of each of his sentences. "It took me a very long time to control it, and in the meantime I lost myself many times, I wounded many times! Like a fool I've been tricked and I've been cursed! I'm…a monster under my mask. Fangs, claws, wings…I have them all under my look. Think of me whatever you want, I won't regret to have been honest with you. The last thing I want is to hurt you!"

*crack*

An unnatural silence fell in the small room of the van and only in that moment Jean-Claude realized he was standing, his hands on the table and his long, sharp claws deep inside the wood of the little table. He was panting and his eyes never detached from L.J.'s. Those marvellous heterochromatic eyes didn't show any hate, any disgust…they were full of wonder, surprise…he couldn't believe that Sniper was having such a reaction, he said nothing, not even when Spy shamefully retreated his claws from the wood and sat down, waiting for the Last Judgement.

L.J. had a weird frown on his face, his eyes looking carefully at the marks. He passed a hand through his hair stopping it on his nape, nervously scratching, and put his other hand on the table, his fingers widely open. "Jean," a sharp, loud crunching noise of bones snapping echoed in the room and his hand mutated in a slightly bigger, gold-grey-white-furred version, with shiny black, deadly curved claws leaving heavy marks on the wood, "I'm a bloody wolf."


	4. 4-The Wolf

_**The wolf**_

Now…that was unexpected…

Jean-Claude seemed a statue for a long moment, completely silent, it was even hard to hear him breathing, his eyes frozen on the furry arm -paw?- in front of him, unblinking and wide open. He was absolutely overwhelmed, among the many things he had thought to happen, among the reactions L.J. might have to his confession, THAT was unquestionably the only one he would have never imagined. A wicked smile appeared on his face, soon exploding in a nervous giggle then to outburst in a loud laughter, making him snort uncontrollably that he had to lean against the back of the chair, gasping for air, he even had to bring out his precious handkerchief because his eyes were watering so much.

On the other side of the table, also L.J. had soon started holding his tummy as a wild, throaty laugh made him bend in half with his head leaning on the paw on the table.

When they both finally could look up at each other through their tears, they fell suddenly silent, exchanging a simple smile just before starting chuckling again, but this time, they could control themselves and regain a bit of dignity. L.J. let himself fall against the back on the chair, his paw reclaiming its human look through crunching noises. It caught Spy's attention again and the man could just smile and shake his head in disbelief. He passed the handkerchief over his face, gently patting here and there before locking his eyes with the Sniper's. He knew there was something odd in that man, but not that odd.

_He's a wolf. Probably something similar to a werewolf, a loup-garou. _He still couldn't really believe it, he needed to see. He stood up planting his hands on the table and looked as excited as a child entering a funfair. "Could you show me?"

Sniper snorted making a face and gave him a toothy grin as he got up. He headed to the centre of the room while Spy took a step back against the wall. The shooter could clearly see how eager his friend was, his eyes were shiny with hope and his hands were trembling. He noticed he was trembling too, just slightly though. He was ready when a little detail flashed in his mind and he could feel his face go red, he looked at him in apologetic way while his hands moved behind him and ruffled with something below the belt. Spy looked confused and surprised when he heard a zip opening.

"Ah…it's for my tail." Sniper mumbled, pretty embarrassed.

"Oh." Spy chuckled bringing his left hand's knuckles to his mouth, his right hand catching the elbow. "Go on, go on." It was amusing for him to see the shooter with such puppy eyes, probably because -well, here Spy was just supposing- he wasn't wearing any underwear under those pants. He bit the tip of his thumb and kept quiet about it.

Sniper stood up straight and put his hands on his narrow hips, puffing out his cheeks for a second. With a hand he undid the first button of his shirt and he started moving his head in slow circles as if to make something snap back into place. It started all silently, but Jean-Claude literally jumped when he heard sinister noises of joints popping out of place and a slightly repellent sound of skin being stretched. He was used to his own, but Sniper's was terrifying to hear. The shooter let out a low grunt, his voice getting deeper each moment, slowly transforming into a low growling as his anatomy violently changed. Bones crunching, muscles growing, fur covering all his person in few seconds of pure shock; his face mutated, his muzzle grew longer bringing long, dreadful fangs out, big ears stretched out from his skull and long whiskers popped out from under his big, pointy canine nose. His hands returned to the paw version he saw earlier, looking strong and deadly with those black claws, his feet and legs grew longer that forced him to squat slightly for balance and for not hitting the ceiling. He puffed and gave a nice shake to his new person, moving his shoulders and stretching his new longer, hairy arms, just to end with a cute *puff* as his tail literally popped out from the open zip in the back, making his ears stood up expressively and his eyes shot open, as if someone just smacked him from behind. He turned his torso and checked, gave his tail a nice pat and turned again to face Spy. He tried a proud smile, but his ears let his emotions show up bending back, he was nervous, embarrassed and pretty scared.

Spy, on the other hand, couldn't stop looking at him, his eyes were running all over him as he carefully walked over him stretching a hand out to his muzzle. He looked simply struck by such a magnificent vision, gaping and unable to speak for long seconds and couldn't hold an excited giggle when Sniper leaned in and let him touch his fluffy cheek. His fur was absolutely marvellous at touch, soft and well combed, but its colours were shocking too: from what Jean could spot from what puffed out from his now-tight-fitted clothes was short grey fur on the upside of his forearms and back of his paws, long white fur on the underside with a golden stripe running along neatly dividing the colours, even following the rim of his fingers then to reappear on his neck, one stripe from each side, climbing up behind his white furred cheeks, and following the muzzle and his upper lip to become thinner and thinner until it disappeared under the dark grey fur, which covered most of his head but his ears, which were black with a white tip. His chin was white, just like the front of his neck, and from the collar of the shirt puffed out a morbid white mane with happy looking brown spots, and Jean-Claude couldn't resist to touch them and count them, leaving L.J. completely speechless and paralyzed. Jean's eyes fell on his hind paws, all black, thick and powerful, then a movement alarmed him and he found a slow moving tail getting his whole attention. It was way longer than his arm, fully covered in long fur, black but for a(nother) white tip, and presenting an oddity as his eyes climbed up, there were light brown stripes appearing and probably covering his back under the shirt. Spy quickly looked up and he spotted those stripes against at the base of the neck, then to disappear in the blackness of the nape. With still no words to be found, Jean moved in front of his friend tasting his arm with a hand, his clothes were filled with fur giving that tight fit, but he could feel also strong, big muscles under his fingers, and that made him rethink at how well fit James was even in his human form. His hand stopped at his paw and he studied it, reversing it and checking each claw and each pad, which he found pretty funny since they were all black as well, sticking out from the white fur.

He let go and rubbed his temples letting out a low chuckle.

"…You ok?" L.J.'s voice sounded more…feral, but it was impossible to not recognise.

Jean nodded and looked up, locking his eyes with him for the first time after he transformed. And he completely lost himself in them… Big, shiny gems hidden into the darkness of his fur, one blue, one green, and absolutely human… those were the same eyes he saw that day they met, those true eyes he secretly kept thinking about for days, weeks, months, the same ones he saw when Lawrence James opened to him offering his friendship, those very eyes he had fallen in love with…

"_Vous êtes magnifique…"_ He whispered, feeling lightheaded and soon feeling the need to sit down.

L.J. quickly helped him down, guiding him back to his chair, then he headed to the sink, filled a glass of water and offered it to him. It was incredible to see how he was using his _claws_ instead of his fingers, managing to not break anything.

Spy gulped down quickly, glad of how the freshness made him feel better, and set down the glass. Sniper was at his spot, in front of him, leaning on the table, simply looking at him with his head slightly tilted on the side, waiting and with a happy tail wagging behind him.

"You look like a big puppy, _mon ami_." He chuckled. "Your fur is…marvellous, it has such beautiful colours." He set his elbows on the table as well, relaxed and comfortable once again.

Sniper's ears fell back again and Spy thought of that as a replacement of a blush. "Quite exotic, eh? It's been quite a hell to get used to it, though, the first times I kept shedding and there were literally carpets on the ground. Laundry was the worst!" His laugh was surprisingly human and they heartily laughed in unison.

They both seemed to forget the world for a moment, a single, short minute where they forgot their nervousness, their awkwardness… there was a comfort around them that made it look natural for them to be together, to be this open. It wasn't the first time they felt that way and, secretly, both of them knew it.

"Oh, I can imagine that." Spy bit his lower lip. "Tell me, those brown stripes you have behind your head, do they go all down your back to the tail?"

The big wolf nodded. "Yep. I got a lot of them and they get even lighter under the sun. Medic noticed it."

Spy's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Your Medic…knows about it?"

"Yes, of course." He chuckled. "When he checked me up and saw my stripes, he compared me to the thylacine."

Spy snorted amused. "The Tasmanian wolf? He went pretty close."

L.J. laughed and nodded, not surprised that the French man knew the long gone animal. "Actually, my whole team knows, and they all are helping to keep it secret to Red Organization. It's been Antoine's idea to keep it so." Jean-Claude simply nodded and L.J. had to ask. "You're keeping it secret to your team, aren't you?"

"Just my brother knows about it, we need to keep it as low as possible." He sighed and shrugged, then a doubt crawled in his mind. "Why does Antoine want it so secret from Red?"

He knew the Red Spy, they had met weeks earlier thanks to L.J. and they soon became friends and colleagues in their espionage. Antoine knew that Jean-Claude and Thomas were searching for top secret files that would bring the end of the war with the surrender of Blu; and Jean-Claude knew that Antoine was searching for his wife's murderer's identity and protecting his son, the Red Scout, and his fiancé's son, the Blu Scout, under cover. He could understand his need to be undetected and the fact the Sniper's secret needed to be as such, because, just like in his case, the war didn't need a new weapon… He couldn't link Antoine to L.J. though…

Unless…

"Because he's a Cursed one as well, mate."

Jean leaned against the chair's back, his arms falling in his lap. It was hard enough to believe Sniper was one like him, now he had to believe that Antoine was one as well… He felt like he was going to have another attack of nervous giggling, but managed to keep himself decent. He coughed. "Is he a _loup-garou_ too?"

James shook his head lowering his ears. "That poor man did not have that luck, and the ability his curse gives him doesn't make it better." He shivered under his thick fur. "He _can't_ die when transformed."

Jean couldn't help but shiver as well, no wonder the Red Spy was hiding it. Despite there was the Respawn system, death and rebirth was a horrible experience. L.J. had a taste of it and after that he never allowed himself to experience it again, while Jean-Claude never met that fate and his friend heartily wished him to never face the Respawn. If Red found out about Antoine's ability and if They could extract it and use it on new mercenaries, the war would never end…

James took a deep breath and shook his head, without giving out more information. Antoine was a dear friend of his and it saddened him deeply to see his situation without being able to help. All he could do was watch over Brian and make sure the kid would now end in more troubles.

Spy didn't want to let their evening circle around that topic and decided to put it aside for the moment. With a smooth movement, Jean removed his gloves, set them aside and reached out with one hand toward that big wolf nose in front of him, catching the shooter's attention, but still being careful to get permission first. Seeing L.J.'s black lips twitching in a shy smile, he gently touched his muzzle, flattening those white whiskers against the fur and gave him a nice scratch. At that, Sniper's ears straightened up and he leaned closer, pursing his lips for a better scratching. His eyes closed and the tip of his tongue out told Spy he was enjoying it quite a lot.

"Would you like a scratch behind your ear, _mon ami_?" He snickered, joking, but seeing a fluffy tail wagging excited he could only guess Sniper really wanted that scratch. James leaned closer tilting his head to the side and let Jean reach. As he started to scratch, Sniper growled.

"Could you use your claws, mate? Please?"

How could he say no to those beautiful, big eyes? He chuckled, let his sharp claws out and got back to his task, causing a little earthquake under the table as Sniper's leg started twitching frantically and his long own claws wounded the hard floor underneath.

After a long minute, as finally James seemed satisfied, he sharply moved away and shook his head just like a dog would do, puffing his fur up around the neck.

"And you are a ferocious werewolf, _mon ami_? I cannot take you seriousl-" He froze as L.J. grabbed his half changed hand in his big paws.

Sniper carefully examined each digit, bringing a big smile from the first one. His eyes looked up at him and his tail wagged happily once again. "Your turn."


	5. 5-The Bat

_**The bat**_

"I-I am not as striking as you are, _mon ami_." He said watching Sniper playing with his claws, making them close around his finger as he pressed the centre of his hand.

"I bet the contrary, mate. Just look at your hand!" He held it up pointing at the membrane starting to show between his fingers.

"Look at my gloves. You have no idea how many times I had to sew them up and eventually get new ones."

L.J.'s eyes fell on them at his side on the table and he picked them up. It wasn't easy to see the damaged parts, but looking thoroughly, Sniper noticed that each finger had a hole on the tip. He nodded and gave them back. "I know how you feel, it happened to me too, twice, with my boots."

Spy laughed and set the gloves away in a pocket of his coat. "I'm not quite a show, though."

"I'll be the judge for that." He added giving him a wink.

Spy sighed with a smile. "Laugh and I'll bite your neck."

L.J. sat up all serious and crossed his heart with a claw, causing a button to pop off as it mistakenly passed on it. He gasped as it flew straight to his friend's nose. Jean-Claude made such a surprised face that made the wolf snort.

"Ah. Headshot…?" He offered an embarrassed grin.

Spy snickered and got up. "Fine, you win. I just need to…oh. Well…this might get awkward."

Sniper slightly tilted his head to the side, ears all up.

With a chuckle, the spook spread his arms. "I might need to remove my shirt."

"Oh!" He chuckled, "Mate, at least you don't have a zip on your ass. But still," Sniper shifted on his chair, his ears stretched back. "want me to, ehm, turn around?" His paw signed a circle on the table.

For a brief moment Spy thought about it. He frankly didn't mind him watching, not at all, he actually _wanted_ him to watch. He bit the inner side of his cheek. "No, it's not necessary."

At that, Sniper leaned on the table, his head on his crossed arms, and shyly watched. As Spy started working on his buttons, Sniper felt a tingle growing in his belly. It was almost imperceptible at first, but by the time the spook had reached the last one, with his white shirt slightly open, just enough to let him have a peek of the skin underneath, the tingle grew so much to be uncomfortably…_pleasant_…and L.J. preferred to be careful, sneakily hiding his tail between his legs. He kept thinking he was a professional, a deadly opponent with no rivals, an infallible shooter with the heart of ice…which, he admitted to himself, had started melting since the two had become friends.

He suddenly realized Jean-Claude was looking at him straight in the eyes. His expression a mystery, a mischievous smile as his hands slowing opened the shirt, yet his eyes shone with a kind of tenderness the Sniper had never seen. He felt a warmth he missed immensely, something he had almost forgotten, and he heartily welcomed it.

Something showing up sharply caught his attention. There were signs on the Spy's pale skin, dark lines he had mistakenly taken as simple hair. When Jean removed the shirt placing it over his chair, all L.J. could see were tattoos, Celtic themed tattoos, knots and chains all over his right arm, from shoulder to wrist, with a big Celtic Trinity design flashing atop; a complex picture of weird forms filled with other knots covering his other shoulder and left breast; another sleeve of a different knot design hid the left arm from the elbow to the wrist; and as last of what he could spot, an elegant thin torc tattooed around his neck.

"I bet you weren't expecting it, right, _mon ami_?" The Spy chuckled to himself as he proudly spread his arms, slowly spinning once to show him all his best sides.

The big wolf got up and trotted closer to get a better look, still keeping a security distance. His nostrils were flaming with the spook's unforgettable smell. He shook the dizziness of the moment off and dared to trace a line on his arm with a gentle claw. "They are amazing, so tangled, so complex looking. God, mate, how long did they take to be done?" He withdrew to his chair hoping his tail would stop wagging that wildly. His eyes were fixed on the ink show, but surely he couldn't avoid noticing how fit the Spy was, how good looking and handsome he was. Apparently following his brother's military training had its own benefits.

"I had my first ten years ago, more or less," he pointed at his left ankle, "a warrior brand around my ankle, and these on my shoulders took about 2 years to be finished. Totally worth it."

Sniper scoffed amazed. "I have a couple myself under this fur, a stylized lizard on my arm," he patted his left one, "and an aboriginal sun on my back with rays running down all the way."

"Oh, you'll need to show me." He smirked, a sharp long canine peeped out.

"Wings first, mate."

Jean rolled his eyes and nodded.

He looked down and took a deep breath.

Soon the wolf's ears started twitching at the faint, yet familiar, cracking of bones changing, stretching and adjusting. He could hear Spy's anatomy transform under the friend's low growling and panting, he could _hear _his transformation, his fingers getting incredibly long and webbed, his claws ripping fully out from their sockets and even fur growing.

When the noise stopped, his vision was filled of white. As he looked up at his face, his tail started wagging even faster. The spook resembled a lot a flying fox because of the long muzzle, but he had quite big ears and a triangular pointed nose. Still, his appearance was of a breath-taking elegance, that white fur gave him a spectral look and those up-straight ears and fluffy collar gave him the posture of a king. His eyes were as glacial as ever, deeply gazing back at him, yet filled with hope.

Then he saw the wings. They were huge, so big he thought they probably couldn't fit in his van if wide spread. Completely white, as white as a ghost. He wondered if his friend has ever tried to fly, but he couldn't find any words for how amazedly hypnotized he was.

The ghostly creature smiled at the achieved reaction he obtained from the wolf and went to close his hanging mouth with his thumb. "So, what you think, _mon ami_?"

"You'r-" He gulped. "You're bloody gorgeous, mate." He smiled back, noticing two long canines peeping out from under his upper lip. "And really nice fangs you got there, bloodsucker."

The spook jokingly patted his chin. "So far I never bit a human neck, _loup-garou_." And surprisingly, and unbelievably quickly, he changed back into human form as he sat down.

James blinked in confusion and almost started to complaint about for how short he had showed himself, but he immediately changed approach as he saw Jean-Claude holding his head between his hands. As he got up, he too changed back to his natural form through a rapid successions of cracking and snapping, and placed a careful hand on his back. "Are you ok?"

Jean took a good minute to answer, his head was spinning so damn much… He had forgotten how tired he was and how empty his stomach was.

He felt a blanket being placed over his shoulders as he looked up and a steamy cup of tea landed before him.

"This will get you back on your feet. My recipe. Cookies?"

Jean sighed giving him a "You're-hopeless" look, but accepted gladly. There was no need to sniff the tea from close to understand how strong it might have been.

Sniper gave him a tray with cookies and sat down. It was hard to miss his excitement. He couldn't stay still, his leg jumped constantly for few seconds before he jolted up from his chair, his hands flailing around trying to follow his words. It looked like he was finally letting out all what he had hold in after the events of that evening. "I-I can't freaking believe it! It's simply amazing that you too…! Damnit, I saw you, you saw me, you were like I'm a monster! and I was like I'm a monster too. You got claws, wings, oh god, have you ever flown? God, mate, and-and your teeth! Are longer than mine! You saw mine, didn't you? I actually enjoy using them once in a while when I can go to the forest south of the canyon, you know, hunting and stuff… How do yours actually work? Can you suck blood through them like a true vampire? Or you just cut through? And what other stuff can you d-!"

"Arrêt arrêt arrêt!" Jean stood in front of him holding his wrists. "You surely explode when you can't hold it in anymore, James."

"I-I just can't believe that among all the people that might be like Antoine and me," his excitement suddenly transformed into a tender tone "_you_ had to be…"

Jean couldn't handle those big heterochromatic puppy eyes and shook his head, chuckling. "Well, you saw my reaction to see that _you_ were in this situation as well. I can't deny how surprised I am, but I don't explode into a million of questions like you!" He gave him a nice hard pat over the forehead. "I'll answer after my tea."

They talked and talked, for a long time, they couldn't stop, they had too much to share about their "paranormal" situations, and often they had to transform a part of two of their bodies to explain or simply just to show off. Both of them had senses way more developed, Sniper the sense of smell while Spy the sense of hearing. Their sight was almost the same, they never had the necessity to use glasses and they could both see pretty well in the dark.

Sniper was proud of his teeth and insisted to confront them with Spy's. Jean wasn't that excited, but at the end he thought it could be fun and posed in front of a mirror James placed in front of them, half-transforming his face, just to show the muzzle and his long fangs. The fact he could be seen in the mirror made the vampire-thing totally fall. Sniper's were surely bigger and had a constant structure, more fitting for cutting, but Spy's were longer and sharper, for penetrating and holding. Jean-Claude, though, admitted he couldn't suck through them, he preferred… drinking… It was pretty hard for him to say that aloud, pretty embarrassing too. He said it was his brother to bring him what he needed, big, juicy steaks from the town down-valley that apparently never saw their Engineer's grill. Raw meat calmed him down just as much as it did on L.J.. Also, he added he never tried flying for many reasons, much to L.J.'s disappointment… Yet, he had a little surprise for him. Spy stood up and made sign to look carefully catching James's whole attention.

"This is something I actually found out just recently." He looked around squaring the walls of the tight place and moved to the door. There, he made sure it was well closed and surprisingly set a foot on it.

"What on Earth are you doing…"

And then the spook placed the other on the door too, balancing himself at the awkward initial angle before literally walking upward, until he was upside down, his feet on the ceiling. "Don't ask me how I can do it, I really have no idea."

A fist landed heavily on the table as Sniper, bent in half, roared with laughter of excitement. "You can't do this to me! _That_ too?! You bloody bastard, that explains the other day!"

Spy laughed as well remembering when he recently reached his friend's nest coming in from a window and not from the usual door. Since then, L.J. had gone crazy because he hadn't heard the spook's classics steps from the stairs and couldn't understand how he had arrived. "_Desolè_, it sounded too fun I had to try."

"I would have done the same if I could!" He let the last pangs from laughing pass before curiously looking at the clock. It was few minutes past 3am. Maybe it was time for both of them to go to close their eyes. He yawned soundly.

Spy was back on his feet on the ground when he looked back at him and getting his coat on. "I guess I have to go, _mon ami,_ you look pretty tired."

James's brow arched at him. "So now_ I'_m the one who needs sleep here." He stood up shaking his head as he accompanied him to the exit.

"It's been such a freaky evening, hasn't it?" Spy offered moving aside as James opened the door for him.

"The most bizarre I had so far, mate." He smiled back at him trying to not show the tiny hint of sadness he felt as he reached for the door. He didn't want him to leave…

"You still have to show me your tattoos. Next time, I guess."

Sniper felt a huge lump in his throat as he winked at him and he suddenly remembered what was the promise he made to himself. That simple wink made his blood boil and immediately he started feeling his cheeks go hot. He was so unsettled that he didn't even heard Jean wish him goodnight and almost let him cloak to then disappear into the dark.

"W-Wait, spook!"

Jean-Claude stopped and turned back to him in concern, his heart slowly speeded up as he _heard_ James's doing the same. Was he truly making the first step? _Taking a step forward?_ He cursed in his mind as the mockery of his brother's voice ringed in his head. He had tried to take it, but he thought he needed two instead of one…

He gulped waiting for Sniper's next words.

The shooter was undoubtedly nervous, the hand holding the door clenched at it, probably leaving slight marks, and the other clenched at the shirt's border. He was also having a hard time to keep eye contact. "I have… something more to tell you…to ask you. I was wondering if you…you know, would come over for, ehm, a…for dinner, one of these days, when you can…you know, a normal dinner, a beer or two…" He gulped hard and looked straight at him. "Would you come to dinner with me?"

Spy slowly took a cautious step closer, his heart racing, still he managed to not show how thrilled he actually was. The warmth he only felt around James was more present than ever. "Is it…a date?" He carefully asked, taking another step closer.

L.J. stood immobile for long seconds before shyly nodding a couple of times. His fingers digging through the wood of the poor door.

The spook was back at the bottom of the stepladder, his lips slightly stretched in a warm smile. "Tomorrow, 8pm?"

Quickly, all the tension slid off L.J.'s body, making him feel like ready to melt on the spot, and he shakily nodded once again. "Yeah, 8pm."

"I won't be late. _Bonne nuit, mon loup-garou_." And with that, as his usual way, he disappeared, leaving the Aussie retreat in his van, lock the door, leaning against it to slide to the floor.

When Jean-Claude retreated under his blankets, all he could hear was a deep howling echoing in the canyon lulling him to sleep.

* * *

Tattoos references:

**I'm sorry about the links, I tried to make them work with HTML, but I cannot visualize them as links in the chapter once modified. If you want to see the references, you can see them from my Tumblr. Link on my profile**


	6. 6-So it begins

_**So it begins**_

The new day didn't bring the usual warmth from the dawning sun. A strong wind blew among the high walls of the canyon, singing the first cold notes of the incoming Fall.

A figure stood on the balcony of the second floor of the Red base, silently watching the tight landscape of the gorge in front of him. He had tried more than once, persistently, to light up one of his cigarettes, but because of the wind, it was useless and he nervously packed it away. He puffed his cheeks annoyed, pulling his coat tighter around his person and regretting to have left his balaclava in his room. He needed to stop smoking anyway, Isabelle would have asked him to keep the cigarettes in his pocket and to forget them, but, he admitted, was way harder than it looked. The stress brought from his conditions led him to smoke more than he wanted to, and the constant coughing made all his friends worry. Antoine sighed and rubbed his eyes with two gloved fingers trying to forget for a moment all his problems, leaving just his Isabelle in his mind. He couldn't help but smile and slightly blush remembering how sweet and caring she's been the last time he visited her, she made him remember how it felt to be loved once again, and he had missed it deeply. She was his new light in his life.

A noise of fast steps caught his attention. About time the boy showed up. Antoine saw him soon appearing in his view running down the dusty road below and giving a quick, brief wave at him, stopping. The Red Spy smiled at the Blu scout and gave him a familiar sign with his index up, pointing at the sky. The young man gave him a thumb up and made few more steps, running down the road toward the only way to the town, but stopped at a whistle and looked back up at Antoine. The spy grabbed his lapels and pulled tight, lifting up his chin at him. Johnathan got his message and pulled his own gilet tighter, then to run off with a smile. They needed to be careful, it was useless taking risks to be found sharing contacts with the enemies.

Antoine chuckled. "_Don't get cold, kiddo._" He whispered in his language and walked inside for his morning coffee.

They both could say they became a lot fond of each other as Antoine reunited with his dear old friend Isabelle after years of silence. If it wasn't for the Blu scout's full name and other many things in common with his mother, Antoine would have never found her again. That young man resembled his mother _a lot_, same determination, same strength and apparently even the same stubbornness, and still her same sweetness. That kid shouldn't be in a war zone… He should have gone on like his seven older brothers did, find his own place, someone to love and fully live his life and not being in Blu's suffocating grasp and repeatedly die, respawn, die and respawn again as a guinea pig. He had talked to Isabelle about it, but when she found out what contract Johnny had signed, there was nothing she could do. So, he was protecting him as much as he could, just like he was doing with his own son, Ryan, the Red scout, but that was a worse story.

Knowing Johnny was going to get the usual newspaper from the town down the valley and that he was safe for the day, Antoine relaxed a bit and entered into the kitchen of the base. For a moment he frowned caught by a sudden doubt, he quickly pulled his wallet out from an inner pocket and checked it. He nodded relieved seeing he had not forgotten to leave Johnathan some cash at their secret papers-exchanging spot.

He placed the wallet back and went to hang his coat on the hanger nearby the door tasting already the moment where he'll sit down with his much-welcomed coffee, when he heard a clattering noise from the sink. It was Lawrence James quickly washing the dishes he used for his own breakfast. Antoine frowned, his friend looked… odd that morning, unfocused and quite in a hurry. A devilish smile appeared on the Canadian spy and he quickly cloaked, then to carefully moving toward his friend.

With much surprise, the tall guy didn't seem to notice his presence and he kept washing and mumbling to himself. Antoine was incredibly close to him, yet he couldn't fully understand what he was saying. Something about someone's tastes… he guessed… something else about dressing up, what to wear…tie? Someone hearing a howling last night…?

OH.

"So, what happened last night, _mon ami_?" He purred in one ear of his.

"HOLY FUCKIN' CHRIST!" The poor sniper almost jumped out of his skin ending with his ass on the floor, panting. "Antoine!" He yelled at the other man, now visible again and having a good laugh. "What the hell, mate?!"

Spy offered him his hand to stand up just to receive a wet and soaped hand. "It was too precious to not take advantage of it, you looked on another planet. I couldn't resist!"

L.J. groaned standing up and drying his hands on his trousers, he never liked being taken by surprise, and seeing Antoine still having a good time out of it drove him mad. Just a second later, a towel landed on the spy's face shutting him up.

"Oof! Oh,_ mon ami_, don't be so touchy." He snorted placing the towel over the other man's shoulder as he returned to his dirty dishes, and walked to the other counter where the coffee machine was.

Once James was done, he stood there waiting for Antoine to get his coffee ready and the two headed to a table in the adjacent room, sitting down together. The big room was silent but for a soft murmur coming from the other side, from Kristof, the Red medic, and Vitaly (Виталий), the Red heavy weapons guy, who were enjoying each other's company in a match of chess.

L.J. noticed them and felt slightly more nervous seeing his own situation. The odd couple never bothered him, Kristof was his and spy's good friend and Vitaly was a nice guy after all, but their presence in that moment made him feel under a reflector.

Antoine waved good morning at them and took his first sip, his eyes fixed on the sniper. He tilted his head at him noticing how out of place his friend felt and cleared his throat. "Would like to go somewhere else?"

James shook his head and bit his lips. "No, no, here's fine. Well… yes, let's say something happened yesterday." He tried to keep his voice as low as he could.

Antoine smirked. "I could tell from the colour of your cheeks, but, please, go on."

James glared at him, but ignored his teasing. "Jean-Claude paid me a visit yesterday and took a heavy weight off his chest." He shyly smiled as he transformed his hands into his werewolf paws through a series of quick snapping sounds. "I can say I was shocked to know we had something else in common."

The Red spy almost chocked on the coffee and coughed a couple of times before sitting up, slightly shaking, looking straight into L.J.'s eyes. "He's one too?!"

The other nodded, slightly pursing his lips out. "Yep." His paws snapping back into human hands. "We had quite a, eh, moment together, we spoke for hours, exchanging things about our transformations and stuff. It looked like a freak show." He chuckled, his mind getting lost in memories again.

Antoine nodded, slowly taking in the news as he took the last sip. "What is he?"

"He's able to transform into a huge bat-creature, pure white and, oh you should see him yourself! He's marvellous!" He was there to add more, but Antoine's smirk and arched brow made him stop, furiously blushing.

"I highly doubt I'll see the same way you do, _mon ami_, but I'll pay him a visit about this. And," he leaned forward on the table, frowning, "does he know about me, too?"

Sniper scratched his nape, apologetically. "I did not tell him what you are, but I just gave him a hint that you are one like us. I thought it was better that it was you to tell him personally."

Antoine nodded glad, he'll take care of it soon. "I'll contact him then, I'll leave a message to Johnathan later." He sat back down and relaxed. "I was going to contact him anyway, I think we could help each other a lot in our personal affairs."

"He said the same thing some time ago, I do think you could work well together."

"Indeed." His devilish smirk soon reappeared and he entwined his fingers over his stomach, locking his eyes with L.J.'s. "Anyway," the words danced on his sharp tongue, "I bet there's something more, isn't it? Or our ice-hearted sniper here wouldn't be acting sooo….off, am I right?"

"You bloody snake." His eyes closed for a moment as he leaned on a propped hand, his finger scratching his brow. "I…asked him out for dinner."

Antoine's eyes flashed with excitement. "And?"

"He accepted."

"Splendid! When?"

"T-Tonight."

"Glad to hear you don't lose time. You planned something already?"

"Yeah, kinda, I was thinking that maybe I could go for an Italian dinner, I still remember my mom's old family recipes, so you know… an _antipasto_ with _bruschetta_, a mushroom _risotto_ or some _filetto _with_ green salad _and lemonif he's not in the mood for the first course_._ I still have a Chianti bottle in my collection, 1960, maybe it's time to take it out. Then could be also a green apple _sorbetto_ after the meal and….what?"

Antoine was simply staring at him amazed. "I had no idea you were a chef, too."

"I…eh, it's just having Italian relatives can help. Every time I visited them, they gave me something to remember them. It's a classic Italian way I guess, and my father never understood it. He's pure Australian."

Spy snorted. "Lucky guy, aren't you? Seems you don't need any help for tonight then."

"Frankly…I have no idea what to put on."

Kristof and Vanily suddenly turned as James started yelling at Antoine to slow down as he grabbed him by the arm, pulling him away. "Let uncle Antoine help you with that." It was the last thing they heard. Medic and Heavy shrugged exchanging a smile and focused back on their game… kind of.

"So, our L.J. managed a date with someone." The German guy presumed, smirking. Apparently he had heard few bits from their conversation.

"About time he took courage to get out of his shell." The Russian man answered, eyeing the doctor under his blond brows. He gave his long, braided beard a stroke before moving his bishop. Medic seemed a bit too excited about the news, Vitaly could easily tell from the way Kristof was brushing that marvellous front lock of black hair of his with his fingers. "Come on, tell me what you're plotting."

Medic waved it off nonchalantly. "Just a bit curious about the man our L.J. got at his hook. I wonder if he met him downtown."

Vitaly coughed. "How can you say James has met a man?"

"Trust me, I know when I see a homosexual man." He winked, but immediately frowned at the big guy's reaction. He was giving him an unamused face, pouting under his beard. The medic had taken about a month to realize Heavy's flirting few years back and finally see his interest in him.

Kristof sighed and got up, chuckling, he walked around the coffee table and went to sit on Heavy's lap, setting an arm over his shoulders. An heavy arm held him tighter to the bearded guy. "I was thinking to pay him a visit tonight. Just to check if everything goes right."

"You want to spy on him." Heavy grunted, not much surprised.

"Just a bit." He smirked. "Would you accompany me?"

Vitaly rolled his eyes and stood up, holding the doctor close to his chest as if he weighted like a feather. Their foreheads touched as Medic clung around his neck and their lips brushed one's against the other's as Heavy made few steps forward. He chuckled, let out a loud "Ah!" before letting the doctor heavily fall back on his sofa. "No, doctor, can't tonight, poker night." And he trotted out of the room, cheerfully whistling.

Medic carelessly sprawled on the sofa, closed his eyes and shook his head, smiling. He knew Vitaly would have refused, he's always been the reserved kind of guy. He stood up, pulled his clothes straight, boxed the chess pieces and wandered off searching for Eddie. There was no way Engineer was going to miss the show.

"Do you really have to?" James complained while Antoine was emptying his little, narrow wardrobe. Sniper didn't have many things to wear, just the essentials and the Red Company shirts, plus things from Australia and Italy he had just stocked away in the very back of the wardrobe and almost never used.

"I need to check every clothe you ha- oh, what are these?" He buried his arm in the narrow space and took out a couple of white thin slippers with bunny ears and two black buttons as eyes. His smile transformed into a grin as he saw L.J.'s face becoming as red as a tomato. "I'm thinking to make you wear these tonight."

"Give me those!" He quickly snatched them away from the Spy's hand and threw them over the bunk over his head.

Antoine was really trying to not laugh. "The big, bad wolf with bunny slippers." A snort escaped and he had to make a great effort to remain serious.

James pouted and looked away, crossing his arms. "My mom made them for me."

Spy did not comment on that, he placed the slippers at his side caressing one long soft ear. Useless to say he found those adorable. _I should get a pair for Isabelle._ He thought and went to check the clothes on the sofa he had set aside. There was not much, but after all, they all looked pretty good. He picked a pair of silky khaki trousers and gave them a nice stretch. "Try these on."

Sniper gave him a confused look, there was not much privacy in his van and there was no way he was going to strip in front of him.

7.45pm. L.J.'s van.

L.J. was at his hob eagerly finishing cooking the _risotto_ and the _tenderloin_, adding the last condiments, waiting for them to get the right grade of cooking. He had specifically left the meat being a bit late, he couldn't know if Jean-Claude was going to have both portions or just one. He was ready in any case.

He lowered the fire and moved to the table removing his "Kiss the cook" apron, which Antoine much insisted him to have. He thought it was an "extra point to cuteness", just like the bunny slippers. L.J. straightened his shirt and sat down, the bunnies moving under his wriggling toes. Sniper would never say it out loud, but he was proud of those slippers, he had pretend to really not want to wear them that evening, despite Antoine's insisting, and he had worn them complaining. Well, Antoine had made everything he could to force him to wear them, even stealing all the shoes he found in the van. He'll never know L.J. was actually planning to wear them anyway.

He nervously checked the clock. It was the 5th time already in the last 10 minutes. He puffed, trying to relax a bit and looked down at the table he had set for the dinner again. He slightly moved one fork back into place, moved the other a bit farer from the knife, rotated the wine glasses, grabbing them at the stem, just to check that there were no flaws anywhere… He recalled himself, saying that everything was perfect and there was no need for the nth check.

He got up and went to the mirror he had hidden in the wardrobe. A pull here and there on his shirt, a brush on his trousers, a last check to his hair and his just-shaved face, his sunburns were still there, perfectly trimmed as always… L.J. placed his hands on his hips and nodded satisfied. He indeed looked handsome that night, and he still had to thank Antoine for his help. His clothes had been cleaned and ironed and all looked as new. He wasn't wearing big things, just simple things that matched perfectly his person: a white elegant shirt, with the top-front decorated with light brown and golden tribal adornments, and the back with a very simplified light brown, almost invisible, representation of wings; khaki trousers with darker snake skin patterns at the end of each leg; and…bunny slippers.

He was perfect.

7.50 pm. BLU base.

"Can you _please_ get out of there?" It was the 3rd time Thomas asked, knocking on the bathroom's door.

"Just one moment!" An angry voice answered from the other side.

"Come onnnn, you're gonna be late!" The Blu soldier knocked on the door again, angrily. "That's it, maggot! You're going to get out this instant OR I'LL FUCKING BLOW THE WHOLE PLACE!"

Luckily the door opened and nobody died that evening.

"How do I look?" Jean-Claude asked, opening his arms to let the brother have a nice look.

Thomas growled annoyed. "As always. Now just GO."

So much pain to be ready for a date, just to end being kicked out the building by the soldier.

7.58pm. RED Base.

"Still nothing?" Medic asked, looking outside the window.

"Nah." Engie mumbled, passing him the binoculars. "Maybe his date is just running late."

"Oh, wait, wait, wait, I see something." He adjusted the focus a bit better and suddenly gasped. "_Oh mein Gott__, werden Sie __es nicht glauben_!"

"Speak English, doc."

Kristof slammed the binoculars in Eddie's face. "Look who appeared at his door!"

Growling and trying to get free from Medic's hold, he hardly managed to see through the glass, but once he pushed the other man off him, he gladly took a peek, but remained pretty shocked. "The spah?! James's datin' the Blu spah?!"

In a second he felt his collar being abruptly pulled, strangling him. "Come on, Eddie, let's go! We don't have time to lose!"

And so they rushed downstairs, running through the long corridors of the base, yet neither of them realized they had caught someone's attention.

Jean-Claude made the last steps with his heart in his throat. He stopped in front of the van's door, uncloaked and took a deep breath, feeling his body shivering under the cold wind and under the pressure of nervousness. He pulled his long coat tighter at his chest, carefully trying to not squeeze the chocolate box he had brought, and knocked. In a couple of seconds the door opened showing the proud Aussie shining with warmth from seeing him in front of him. They shared a shy smile and L.J. quickly let him in to avoid making him freeze outside.

"_Bonsoir_, _garou_."

"G-Good evening, spook." Sniper offered to get his coat and helped him out of it. He had just placed it on the hanger when he got a chocolate box set in front of him.

"I got something for you." Jean-Claude almost whispered, stealing a chuckle from the other man as he got it in his hands.

"You shouldn't have. Thanks." He put it on the windowsill, right next to the table, for later and went to pull out the chair for him. "Please, have a seat. I hope you're hungry."

That little act of chivalry touched the spy and he went closer, head up. "I'm actually starving." But he didn't sit down. "Before I sit down, I have a proposition."

James looked at him confused and he got even more confused when Spy slowly took his hand, gently squeezed it, and guided it to his neck.

"Would you help me removing my balaclava, _monsieur_?"

The shooter's fingers automatically stiffened and he gulped, feeling his cheeks quickly getting hot. Though, he gave him a quick nod and tried to work around the foulard Spy had knotted around his neck. He opened it just enough to reach the brim of the balaclava with both hands. He had to blink few times, he was starting to lose his famous focus and his fingers were slightly trembling. He, who was famous for his impeccable aim and stillness at the trigger, was shaking while freeing his friend from his mask. Maybe it was because their noses were almost touching…

Spy moved his hands behind his back and stared at the man standing before him, chin up and devilish grin on his face. If he wanted he could easily reach up and kiss him, but it wasn't that way he wanted it, so he waited, resisted and enjoyed the show, teasing here and there in the meantime.

James's hands were gentle and careful despite the trembling, he pulled the balaclava up smoothly, made little effort around the chin and the nose and made sure to follow the spy's hair wave as he reached the top, he pulled the front brim over his head and let it drop behind, ending with his arms around Jean-Claude's neck. The spy had closed his eyes in the progress and when he opened them again, he really couldn't hold a snort at how red the shy sniper was in face, but tried to keep composed. "_Merci, garou_." But also tried to get just an inch closer to the taller man.

L.J. _froze. _They had never gotten so close. Not that he found it unpleasant, he… just wasn't ready in that moment, he only had found himself stuck with his arms around his neck. The spook had got him good.

After what seemed an eternity, L.J. moved his arms off him and handed him the balaclava. He took a step back and led him to his seat, then to go to the hub, where he could take a free deep breath. "What would you like? I have risotto with mushrooms and tenderloin."

Spy had sat himself comfortable and was removing his gloves. "Oh, I'd like to try both. There's such a delicious smell here that's inviting me to try every speciality you prepared."

Sniper smiled at the compliment and started to plate the risotto.

"Oh, what you got here, _garou_?"

James had to turn to see what the Spy meant. He was curiously looking at the decanter on the table he had previously set and filled with the red wine. He served an elegant portion of risotto each and grabbed a dark empty bottle atop the fridge to let him see. "I assure you it's not blood, spook." He joked, but Jean-Claude had remained speechless as he read the ticket on the bottle. That made James chuckle as he sat down and filled their glasses. "I…kept it for a special occasion." He could feel his ears getting hot.

Spy looked up at him completely overwhelmed, he surely was expecting something big from L.J. for that evening, _their_ evening, but that was too much. He knew about his relatives in Italy, but that was just…just too much!

James lifted his glass for a toast, but seemed a bit concern seeing Jean-Claude's face when he too lifted his. "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, no, no, _mon cher_, just…very surprised." He shyly smiled.

Sniper snorted relieved. "To you, spook."

Spy shook his head and corrected him. "To us."

They made their glasses touch into a cheerful note and had a taste of perfume and savour. A quite nostalgic taste for the both of them.

"Oh, by the way, nice bunnies." Spy joyfully said before he took the first bite, making the taller man melt into a new blush attack.


	7. 7-It happens

_**It happens**_

"Here's a good spot, doc." Engie whispered while his companion was trying to calculate the right distance from Lawrence James' van. They both knew their friend had an incredible hearing since his nature, so they needed to be careful into choosing the right spot from where they could "keep an eye" on him. Eddie had found a really cosy spot behind few rocks nearby the entrance to the path that linked the branch where the bases were to the branch of the canyon their friend had chosen to park his van. Doc tiptoed to him and could just agree with him: they had a nice view on the big window on the side where they spotted two shadows of two heads on the blinder.

"They seem to be havin' a good time, right, doc?"

"Indeed, Ed, indeed."

"Now, it would be nice if you could stop having big eyes for them for a moment and help me, doc."

Kristof snapped from his romantic trance and helped the Texan setting down their little camp: a wide blanket on the ground, a couple of sleeping bags as shelter from the cold and a weird little device made by the engineer, that could warm food up in a second. They took out some food they had brought with and started warming it up as their dinner, then they snuggled into the bags and started their spying session.

"Who would have guess'd that James there was a man like you? I'd bet my hardhat about the opposite." He took a bit gulp of his hot drink, relieved from the wave of warmth going through his body in such a chilly night.

Kristof nodded and took a sip of his as well. "I admit that when I heard it this morning I really thought it was some kind of a joke at first, but I could see his face well, there was no joke."

"He could have told us, though."

"You know him better than me, my friend, he's too reserved and shy."

"But he told Antoine."

Kristof scoffed. "I bet the old bone just got him at the right moment to make him tell him.

Eddie chuckled agreeing. "They seemed pretty busy all day, I guess to get this date right and ready."

The other nodded and observed. It looked like those two were having a great time, they laughed and pretty loudly too, they could even hear some of what they were sharing.

"Among all the people Wolfy could get… the Blu spah. Aren't you worried?"

Kristof shook his head. "_Nein_, he might be relatively new around here, but if James trusts him that much I guess we have nothing to worry about."

With a deep sigh, Eddie agreed.

"Worry about what?"

Both Engie and Medic jumped out of their skins as a young voice echoed behind them. They turned and with big surprise they found Ryan staring down at them. "What you doing here, guys?"

Kristof grabbed his sweater and yanked him down between them, covering his mouth.

"The hell _you_ doing here, lad?!" Eddie roared, trying to keep his voice still down.

The Red Scout pulled free from Medic, outraged. "I followed you, ok? You two looked like you were to commit a crime back in the base. Wasn't hard to follow you either."

"Keep your voice down, lad!" Kristof ordered, furious.

"Fine, fine." He sat up and crossed his legs. "What you doing here anyway? Spying on Snipes?"

The older men shared a guilty look and an apologetic smile before shrugging and nodding in unison.

"Ja, indeed."

"Just checkin' on him if everything is goin' well."

"And what's going on in there to be so…important…?" Ryan finally got a glimpse of a second shadow, probably a head, on the curtain of the window. He raised a brow and laid down with the other two, in the middle, and kept his voice even lower. "Don't tell me, it's a date! Snipes got a date! So? How does she look? Did he screw her up already?"

That made him earn a pretty hard swat behind his head by their Engineer. "Have some respect, lad. For both ladies and gentlemen."

Medic was simply enjoying a good chuckling. "Oh, he'll never learn." He sighed.

"For God's fucking sake, man, what the f-"

Engi hit him again, harder. "And watch your tongue, lad, or I'll be much displeased to be forced to use my other hand on your head."

At that, Ryan locked him lips, kept massaging his sore nape and didn't dare to say anything else. The last thing he wanted was a nasty mark on his skin left from a robotic hand. "It's not funny, doc." He growled seeing how Medic was still giggling.

Kristof let out a loud snort and looked over the young man at Engi. "Should we tell him?"

Eddie grinned. "Nah, it wouldn't be fun."

"What?" Ryan protested.

Medic grabbed his chin and made him point to the van. "Shut up and enjoy the show."

Spy was simply shaking his head in disbelief, his face contorted into a delighted expression as he took the first bite of the tenderloin, letting a satisfied moan be heard. "I must say, I forgot the last time I ate so well, probably never, _garou_, your cooking is divine." He gladly took another bite.

It was hard for L.J. to hide his satisfaction, how flattered he was, he felt slightly uneasy for much how unused to he was, and at the same time he couldn't stop himself being proud. And his ears were still burning. "If you go on like that I'm going to burn of blush, spook."

Jean-Claude grinned and cut another little juicy bite, which he offered to him. "I've never been so sincere in my life, _cher_, now say "Ahh"."

Lawrence lifted his eyes from his place, seeing the offering. He blinked confused, but then he smiled and offered a bite to him as well.

"Well, that's just cute, eh, doc?" Eddie whispered as the shadows moved on the blinder, showing the two in the van sharing a portion of their dinner to one another.

"Ah, indeed." His dreamy look immediately dropped. "Vitali never did that with me." He frowned and bit his sandwich, offended.

Engi snorted patting his shoulder and looked over at Scout, who seemed to slowly understanding the situation. He could recognize Sniper's shadow easily, it was the other one which confused him a lot. He never saw a girl with so short hair, and clearly that girl didn't have a feminine profile. Actually…she didn't have any characteristic Ryan would have referred to a girl… His face rapidly bleached. Before he could say a word, a strong hand covered his mouth as an arm kept him into place.

"Ja, lad, there's no girl in there." The doctor whispered in his ear and warmly chuckled. He could feel the young man stiffening under his grip, but he soon calmed down enough to be released. He looked ready to freak out, though, his mouth hanging, his eyes darting from Medic to the window, then back to Medic, his hands shaking around trying to deliver some kind of alien message, then to freeze on his winter hat. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. "I-I would have never imagined! Snipes…a faggot?! He doesn't give the look of it." Immediately felt Medic's eyes on him, regretting his choice of words.

Yet, the doctor surprised him with another chuckle. "We cannot disagree with you."

"We kinda found out today as well, boyo." Engi added.

"But we had a couple of tiny doubts in few moments." Medic pointed out and Engie muffled a "Yes" while he dug in his sandwich.

The three fell silence for few minutes, then Ryan broke it with a curious question. "Someone we know?" He aimed the second shadow with his nose.

"Hmm, yes, you might have met him in different occasions." Eddie shrugged trying to hide his entertained smug.

Ryan never stopped analysing the shadow, he bit his lower lip, frowning. "He kinda reminds me of….spy…?" His eyes snapped wide in shock.

Right before his mind could run into crazy images of Sniper and Spy he really didn't want to see, a couple of elegant shoes appeared at his side, followed by the familiar noise of the disguise puffing off.

"I assure you I have nothing to do with _monsieur_ James." Red spy calmly said in low voice looking down at the young man, who froze under his icy eyes, then he glared down at Medic and Engineer. "Why am I not surprised to see you two here?"

Both men tried an apologetic smile with him, but it didn't have much effect on the masked man, it just made him look even more furious.

Kristof gulped feeling guilt crashing him down, and tried to offer the man a beer. "Come, Antoine, we're not doing anything _that_ wrong."

"You shouldn't be here at all in the first place." He said, ignoring the bottle.

Eddie snorted. "Said the Spah."

"Although it's my profession, I have at least the dignity to not spy on my own teammates." Engie's cheerful mood immediately died into a shameful blush. "Now move aside and give me that beer." Spy suddenly said, a mocking grin growing on his face as he sat down among the shocked men.

"What about dignity?" Medic smirked.

"L.J.'s my friend." He replied opening his bottle and offering another to the astonished Scout.

Eddie was hardly keeping his laughing down as they all cheered with their beers.

"Wait, wait," Jean-Claude interrupted. "you're saying, you took her _home_ ?!"

"Yeah, of course! The little critter was too young to survive alone, the mother was nowhere to be found and we had been waiting for three days! Look at her here." James reached for a bag resting at his side, near the wall, and took out few photos, old and new, from a pocket. He searched for the right one and handed it to him. "Isn't she a beaut? This was taken last month."

The photo showed an old joyful-looking, curvaceous lady elegantly sitting on grass with a huge crocodile's head resting on her lap as she petted it. A skinny old guy sitting on the huge creature's back, waving. On the back there was written "Wish you were here! Mom, Dad and Gertrude"

That monster was at least 3 meters long. A saltwater crocodile. They took her home when she was as big as a hand. And called her Gertrude.

Spy was speechless. That beauty was a proud member of James's family since 1950.

Jean-Claude gulped seeing at how easily the old lady petted Gertrude, showing no fear, just pure happiness. He handed back the photo. "A true beauty, _garou_."

Sniper chuckled heartily seeing how pale his friend got. "She's too big to stay in the ranch, so years ago she started swimming to the sea to hunt and still comes back home every evening." He showed him more pics of her with his parents. "In 20 years we never saw her nesting. The lady must be too tough for males, ah."

Jean was analysing a new photo with just the old couple in. "Your parents seem a really nice couple." He said, smiling.

L.J. started scratching the back of his head, avoiding his eyes, his smile nostalgic. "Yeah, they are." He rubbed his cheek before leaning on his elbow, his eyes shyly setting on the guy in front of him. "She is the classic sweetie who bakes you a pie a day and runs after with a rolling pin if you make her angry." Spy snorted, the first photo still in his mind. "Dad is usually grumpy, rarely smile, but he gave me all the support I needed growing up. He taught me all I know but shooting. Mom taught me that when it was time for me to start protecting the herd from predators and Gertrude from poachers. A bullet in the leg and in the shoulder just to give the rangers time to arrive." He winked.

"Quite a childhood you had!" He commented, amazed. "While I was in military academy, studying boring stuff and training every morning."

"But that training surely left you something on." With the index of his free hand he pointed at the broad shoulders under the silk shirt Jean was wearing, catching him off guard and making him blush. He quickly got up then, ready for the dessert.

Outside, the men were divided by small bets about if they were going to kiss or not and who'd make the first move. Antoine and Kristof believed in the kiss, while Eddie was sceptic, Antoine thought Jean-Claude was going in first, while Kristof thought the same for Lawrence James.

Ryan was sitting silently on the other side of the blanket, quite a big contrast for being the loud big-mouth Scout of the team. He simply sat there eating a sandwich, watching at the shadows with a bit of curiosity, just to see who among his teammates at his side would win the bet. He ended up accepting quite quickly the idea of L.J. dating a man, he didn't judge on that aspect, he was just surprised that the lanky man in there had a soft side.

"Pssst! Ehy, kid! What did I miss?"

Ryan turned around to see a Blu military uniform and almost choked on the bite he was munching.

"You're here too?!" Antoine quickly patted the Scout on the back few times fearing to be heard while glaring up at the Blu Soldier, who was enjoying the moment too much.

"I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world. I just had to cover up few things at the base first." He sat down between Medic and Engineer. "I didn't expect a crowd here."

"You're not the only one, pardner." He heavily landed his mechanic hand on Thomas' shoulder and offered him a beer, glad he had taken more then he needed. The Soldier cheered with him, drank and then turned to Medic. "Vitali destroyed us all at poker, tonight. You sure he doesn't cheat?"

Kristof chuckled. "Don't ask me."

Scout soon started breathing again, highly relieving Antoine.

"So, what did I miss, guys?" Asked the Soldier.

They updated him of the situation and he soon joined the bets, on Antoine's side.

Jean-Claude leaned back on the chair, taking a deep breath wishing he could undo just one button of his shirt. The sorbetto was just what he needed after such a wonderful dinner, but he seriously thought he had eaten too much. "You're such a great cook, _garou_. I haven't eaten so well in years."

Sniper, too, leaned back, entwining his fingers over his stomach, content. He smiled not really knowing how to respond to the compliment. "I-I just wanted it to be a nice evening. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Smirking, Spy nodded. "Oh, I more than enjoyed it, _garou_." With a little effort, he moved forward to lean on the table, folding his arms. "Having such a good time with you it's been something I never dared to ask, but also something I'd do again and again."

James' ears caught the soft note Jean's voice was slowly getting and that pushed the man to carefully move forward as well, his hands were trembling fists in front of him. "I did too have a good time." He almost whispered.

"Actually, _mon loup-garou,_" Spy's cheeks got redder, but his eyes never detach from the other man's. "I've always had a wonderful time whenever you're with me." He looked down at those trembling tight fists and gently cupped them in his, feeling how tense the shooter was.

James' heart started pounding in his chest and he started feeling hot and lightheaded. His mouth quickly became dry. He tried a nervous smile looking at Jean-Claude's slender fingers working their way to make him open his fists and let him lay his hands over his. He didn't realize he was leaning closer.

Outside the men all froze seeing how the shadows on the blinder got interestingly closer. The only audible noise was caused by Engie eating his nails.

L.J. turned his hands palm up, allowing Jean to close his in them, and scoffed making an exaggerate gesture with his head before looking up at him again. "I indeed _felt_ something…that day. When you first appeared in my nest. I had seen something in those eyes of yours. It pissed me off so much, it infuriated me. It bothered me for months, even after we started playing cards together in the evenings and simply passing time together. I couldn't understand what it was and couldn't truly see, not even when you looked at me." His grip grew tighter and tried to pull the man closer. "It hit me, though, after a time, and I couldn't be happier knowing that what I saw was what I have now in front of me."

A hand of his had gotten free and had started shyly roaming up, following Jean-Claude's arm to then land his callous fingertips against the Spy's sharp jaw.

The spook gulped hard at those words, his lips were twitching in a nervous rhythm, trembling almost as if he was ready to cry, but he didn't, he closed his eyes and guided that roaming hand over his cheek while his own hand travelled up to Sniper's chest following the shirt's buttons. He chuckled feeling him shiver. "I wasn't even sure what to think of you, until you invited me to dinner."

"So, I got you at the right time?" James joked, his nose inches from Jean's and his hand smoothly moving behind his nape.

Jean's hand quickly grabbed at James' collar. "Yes." And gently, but eagerly, pulled him in as the hand behind his head firmly did the same and their lips finally touched in a comforting kiss.

If the men outside could clap, they'd have made a ruckus, but they wisely decided to leave imminently and go back to the base where they could cheer, yells and wish those all the best luck.

"Come on, doc." Antoine chuckled as he grabbed Kristof's arm and pulled him away. His protests went unheard.

Their lips soon left the first nervous try, and despite being a single simple kiss, the two men were panting and blushing as they never imagined. Yet, that didn't stop them for a second, more comfortable kiss. Their lips danced in a soothing rhythm, nibbling and teasing each other with silence promises for the future, ensuring affection and adoration each time they set apart and go immediately back together with new energy, which they could fully feel in the grip their hands, which were still squeezing each other on the table at every soft moan they shared.

For a moment, Jean felt something that made him stop abruptly. A smell that was risking to wake his cursed side on the spot and he couldn't absolutely afford it. He smelled blood and took him a huge amount of energy to not lick his lips seeing its origin. L.J. had started bleeding from his nose and realized only when his lover took a step back.

He jumped back gasping for the deep embarrassment as he searched for a tissue. "Ohgodohgod, I'm so sorry, Jean!"

The Spy quickly took out a clean blue handkerchief from his pocket and rapidly moved at the Sniper's side, holding him close to his chest with his hand on his nose. "Shhh, _garou_." He chuckled. "It happens."

Sniper leaned on him trying to calm down and once Jean felt he was enough tranquil, he let him press the handkerchief on his nose while he went to wet another for cleaning himself.

"This is so embarrassing…" James muffled.

A fresh wetness landed on his forehead as Jean returned. He had only his other precious handkerchief to offer and he had wetted it to cool L.J. down.

Spy kissed his head lingering for a brief moment to savour his smell as he pulled him closer again. "Don't think about it."

James took a deep breath and closed his eyes, relaxed and cuddled against his warm chest. "Thanks, mate."

TBC


End file.
